At the centre of the British Museum is a large circular reading room with its famous, massive dome. Although it has long been closed to the public, it will soon be open for guided tours.
(c) British Museum
In order to test its functionality, the museum offered a few trial tours last year, as the room is now used for archival research and researchers are therefore occasionally disturbed by people entering the room.
Apparently the test tours worked, because tours of the reading room will resume later this month and become a regular event.
The Reading Room was built for the British Library when it was still using the space itself, but when the library moved to St Pancras and the books were cleared from the courtyard to create the current interior space, the library’s Reading Room was opened to the public – only the second time in its history.
Later, in 2007, the museum installed a temporary floor to use the space for exhibitions, but this move was halted in 2013 and the doors have generally been closed since then.
The new regular 20-minute tours start on Tuesday, July 23 and from then on repeat every Tuesday at 11:00 and 12:00.
Each tour is limited to 20 people and places are allocated on a first come, first served basis, so my tip would be to book a free ticket to the museum at 10am. That way you’ll have a chance to be the first to get the 11am tickets and an hour (or two) to wander around the museum.
Please note that photography is not permitted in the Reading Room. These tours may be cancelled. If you are unsure, please ask at the information desk in the Great Court.
